Bounty poker game

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a draw poker game includes the steps of placing a bet on at least one hand; receiving a deal of five playing cards from a standard 52-card deck; choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard; drawing replacement cards; and receiving a payout. The amount of the payout is based on the poker hand ranking of each resulting hand. Unlike conventional draw poker, the discarded cards are placed back into the deck prior to the draw. The amount of the payout may also be based on whether any of the discarded cards is drawn as a replacement card. The game may be implemented as video poker on a computer network, wherein a server acts as the “house” and a player plays by using a client network terminal. The video poker game may enable a player to play multiple hands simultaneously.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of playing a card game, andmore particularly to a method of playing a version of draw poker that isadapted for play of multiple hands simultaneously, preferably on acomputer network such as the Internet.

1. Description of the Related Art

Many games that use playing cards have been known and played for manydecades. A list of such games includes bridge, pinochle, canasta, rummy,and poker. The term “poker” actually refers to a family of games thattypically involve placing monetary bets.

In poker, a standard deck of 52 cards is generally used. Each card isconsidered to have a rank and a suit. The rank of the card is theapparent value of the card. The highest rank of a card is an Ace,followed by a King, a Queen, a Jack, and then in descending numericalorder from Ten to Two. A Two is often referred to as being a Deuce, anda Three is often referred to as being a Trey. The suit of the card isthe group of objects to which the card belongs, as indicated by thesymbol shown on the face of the card. There are four suits: Spades,Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. The rank/suit combination of each of the 52cards in the deck is unique, i.e., there is exactly one Ace of Spades inthe deck, there is exactly one Six of Diamonds, there is exactly oneQueen of Clubs, etc.

The objective of poker is to obtain a five-card hand having as high aranking as possible. The ranking order of poker hands is as follows: 1)straight flush (i.e., five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit);2) four of a kind (i.e., all four cards in the deck that have the samerank); 3) full house (i.e., three cards having a first rank combinedwith a pair of cards having a second rank); 4) flush (i.e., five cardsof the same suit, regardless of rank); 5) straight (i.e., fiveconsecutively ranked cards of the same suit); 6) three of a kind; 7) twopairs; 8) one pair; and 9) high card.

There are many variations on the basic theme in poker. For example,poker is often played competitively among three to seven players. On anygiven hand, the player who displays the highest ranking poker hand atthe end of the hand wins that hand. Typically, the reward for winning ahand is that the player wins all of the money or chips that are in thepot, i.e., the money or chips that have been bet by the players duringthe course of the hand. However, poker can also be played individuallyagainst “the house”, such as a betting parlor. In this type of game, theplayer is typically rewarded according to a payout table that fixesvalues based on the ranking of the poker hand achieved by the player.

One group of poker games is known as stud poker. In stud poker, theplayer is typically dealt one or two cards, and then the player places abet based on the initial deal. Then, the player may be dealt cards oneat a time, with bets being placed in between each dealing of a card. Theplayer is dealt his last card, which often is either the fifth card orthe seventh card, and a last bet is placed. Then, the player reveals hishand, and either wins or loses based on the ranking of his hand.Although the player may have been dealt seven cards, he must choosewhich five cards out of those seven that he wishes to use for his pokerhand. The game can be varied by dealing some cards face up (i.e., allother players can see the card) and some cards face down (i.e., only theplayer dealt that card can see it); or it can be varied by virtue of thebetting rules that are typically declared prior to the beginning of thehand; or it can be varied by declaring certain cards as being “wildcards”. When a card is wild, that means that it can be used tosubstitute for any card chosen by the player. So, for example, if Deucesare wild, and a player is dealt three Sevens and a Deuce, that playerwould typically use the Deuce as being a fourth Seven, thus yielding apoker hand holding of four of a kind.

In another variation, community cards can be used. Community cards arecards that are commonly held by all players. Typically, the communitycards are dealt face down, and bets are placed each time a communitycard is revealed.

Another type of poker game is known as draw poker. In draw poker, eachplayer is usually dealt five cards, and then the player is given anopportunity to discard several cards and draw replacement cards from theremaining undealt portion of the deck. In one popular version offive-card draw poker, the players are allowed to discard no more thanthree of the originally dealt cards, unless the player holds an Ace andwishes to discard all four of his cards other than the Ace. Bets areplaced before the draw and after the draw. In another popular variation,when playing as an individual against the house, a player may bepermitted to discard any or all of his cards. A player typically placesonly one bet on each hand, prior to the initial deal of cards.

In recent years, with the advent of the Internet, video poker has becomepopular. Typically, video poker is played by individuals against thehouse. Cards are dealt using computer software. The Internet allows aplayer to play several hands simultaneously. This allows the player towin more often, and at the same time, it typically enables the videogame provider to increase profits due to the increase in the number ofgames played. Several variations of poker games that combine one or moreof the aforementioned features are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,531,448; 5,732,950; 5,823,873; and 6,007,066, the contents of each ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a method for playing a poker game is provided. The methodincludes the steps of placing a bet on at least a first hand, receivinga deal of five cards, the five cards being contained in a standard52-card deck, choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard,drawing replacement cards from the deck, wherein the number ofreplacement cards is equal to the number of discarded cards, andreceiving a payout. An amount of the payout is based on an amount of thebet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that wereheld and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards. The discardedcards are placed back into the deck prior to the step of drawingreplacement cards. The amount of the payout may also be based on whetherany of the discarded cards is drawn as a replacement card. The at leastfirst hand may be displayed on a monitor of a computer. The poker gamemay be played by using a mouse and a keyboard that are operativelycoupled to the computer that is configured to be in communication with aserver that acts as a dealer for the poker game. The computer and theserver may be in communication via a computer network, such as theInternet.

In another aspect, a method for playing a poker game is provided. Themethod includes the steps of placing a bet on at least a first hand, asecond hand, and a third hand; receiving a deal of five cards for eachof the at least three hands, choosing which cards to hold and whichcards to discard; drawing replacement cards for each of the at leastthree hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand, whereinthe number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discardedcards; and receiving a payout for each of the at least three hands. Thefive cards received in each respective deal are contained in a standard52-card deck corresponding to the respective hand. The same five cardsare dealt to each of the at least three hands. The same cards are heldin each of the at least three hands and the same cards are discarded ineach of the at least three hands. An amount of the payout is based on anamount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cardsthat were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards. Thediscarded cards from each of the at least three hands are placed backinto each respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacementcards. An additional payout may also be determined, wherein the amountof the additional payout may be based on a cumulative number of thediscarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards. The at least threehands may be displayed on a monitor of a computer. The poker game may beplayed by using a mouse and a keyboard that are operatively coupled tothe computer that is configured to be in communication with a serverthat acts as a dealer for the poker game. The computer and the servermay be in communication via a computer network, such as the Internet.

In yet another aspect, a method for playing a poker game is provided.The method includes the steps of placing a bet on at least ten separatehands; receiving a deal of five cards for each of the at least tenhands, the five cards being contained in a standard 52-card deckcorresponding to the respective hand, wherein the same five cards aredealt to each of the at least ten hands; choosing which cards to holdand which cards to discard, wherein the same cards are held in each ofthe at least ten hands and the same cards are discarded in each of theat least ten hands; drawing replacement cards for each of the at leastten hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand, whereinthe number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discardedcards; and receiving a payout for each of the at least ten hands. Anamount of the payout is based on an amount of the bet and a poker handranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards thatwere drawn as replacement cards. The discarded cards from each of the atleast ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to thestep of drawing replacement cards. An additional payout may also bedetermined, wherein the amount of the additional payout may be based ona cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacementcards. The at least ten hands may be displayed on a monitor of acomputer. The poker game may be played by using a mouse and a keyboardthat are operatively coupled to the computer that is configured to be incommunication with a server that acts as a dealer for the poker game.The computer and the server may be in communication via a computernetwork, such as the Internet.

In still another aspect, a method of conducting a poker game over acomputer network is provided. The network includes a server computer andat least one client computer that is in communication with the servercomputer. The method includes configuring the server computer to executethe steps of causing the at least one client computer to display atleast ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker, prompting a user toindicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer,dealing five cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of theat least ten hands, dealing the same five cards from respective standard52-card decks to each of the other at least nine hands, causing the atleast one client computer to display the five dealt cards in each of theat least ten hands, prompting the user to indicate which of the fivedealt cards will be held and which of the five dealt cards will bediscarded, the held cards being held in each of the at least ten hands,and the discarded cards being discarded in each of the at least tenhands, drawing replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands fromthe respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand areindependent of the replacement cards for the other hands, determining apayout for each of the at least ten hands, and causing the at least oneclient computer to display the respective payouts. An amount of thepayout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of acombination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn asreplacement cards. The discarded cards from each of the at least tenhands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step ofdrawing replacement cards. An additional payout may also be determined,wherein the amount of the additional payout may be based on a cumulativenumber of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards. Thecomputer network may be the Internet.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a system for conducting apoker game. The system includes a server computer and at least oneclient computer, the at least one client computer being in communicationwith the server computer. The server computer is configured to cause theat least one client computer to display at least ten undealt hands offive-card draw poker; prompt a user to indicate an amount of a bet usingthe at least one client computer; deal five cards from a standard52-card deck to a first hand of the at least ten hands; deal the samefive cards from respective standard 52-card decks to each of the otherat least nine hands; cause the at least one client computer to displaythe five dealt cards in each of the at least ten hands; prompt the userto indicate which of the five dealt cards will be held and which of thefive dealt cards will be discarded, wherein the held cards are held ineach of the at least ten hands, and wherein the discarded cards arediscarded in each of the at least ten hands; draw replacement cards foreach of the at least ten hands from the respective decks, wherein thereplacement cards for a given hand are independent of the replacementcards for the other hands; determine a payout for each of the at leastten hands; and cause the at least one client computer to display therespective payouts. An amount of each payout is based on the amount ofthe bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that wereheld and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards. The discardedcards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back into eachrespective deck prior to the draw of replacement cards. The servercomputer may be further configured to determine an additional payout.The amount of the additional payout may be based on a cumulative numberof the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards. The servercomputer may be in communication with the at least one client computervia a computer network, such as the Internet.

In still another aspect of the invention, a storage medium for storingsoftware for conducting a poker game over a computer network isprovided. The network includes a server computer and at least one clientcomputer that is in communication with the server computer. The softwareis computer-readable. The software includes instructions for causing theserver computer to cause the at least one client computer to display atleast ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker; prompt a user toindicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer; dealfive cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at leastten hands; deal the same five cards from respective standard 52-carddecks to each of the other at least nine hands; cause the at least oneclient computer to display the five dealt cards in each of the at leastten hands; prompt the user to indicate which of the five dealt cardswill be held and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded,wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, andwherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the at least tenhands; draw replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands fromthe respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand areindependent of the replacement cards for the other hands; determine apayout for each of the at least ten hands; and cause the at least oneclient computer to display the respective payouts. An amount of eachpayout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of acombination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn asreplacement cards. The discarded cards from each of the at least tenhands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step ofdrawing replacement cards. The software may further include instructionsfor causing a computer to determine an additional payout, wherein theamount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of thediscarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards. The computernetwork may be the Internet.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method of conducting a drawpoker game over a computer network is provided. The network includes ahost server and an electronic client device. The method includes thesteps of causing the client device to display at least one draw pokerhand comprising a plurality of card symbols, causing the client deviceto prompt a player to indicate a discarding of a plurality of thedisplayed cards symbols, and causing the client device to display aplurality of drawn card symbols corresponding to the plurality ofdiscarded card symbols, wherein at least one of the drawn card symbolsis identical to one of the discarded card symbols. The method may alsoinclude the steps of causing the client device to prompt the player toindicate an amount of a bet to be placed on the draw poker hand, andcausing the client device to display an amount of a payout. The amountof the payout may be based on a poker hand ranking of the draw pokerhand being displayed after the drawn card symbols have been displayed.The amount of the payout may be further based on a number of drawn cardsymbols that are identical to any of the discarded card symbols. Theelectronic client device may be a client computer. The electronic clientdevice may be a client monitor. The monitor may be configured to receiveinputs from any or all of a keyboard, a mouse, or a joystick device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a network implementation of avideo draw poker game according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary computer screen shot that illustrates a videodraw poker game after the initial deal and the discard and prior to thedraw, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary computer screen shot of the video draw poker gameof FIG. 2 that illustrates the game after the draw, according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a new variation of the standard game offive-card draw poker, hereinafter referred to as Bounty Poker. In apreferred embodiment, Bounty Poker is played by an individual playeragainst the house. In certain aspects, Bounty Poker is played similarlyas in conventional draw poker, in that a player places a bet and then isdealt a hand of five cards from a standard deck of 52 cards. The playerdecides which cards to hold and which cards to discard. The player ispermitted to discard any or all of the cards. After the discard, theplayer draws new cards from the deck to replace the discarded cards. Theplayer ends up with a five-card hand, and this hand is evaluated interms of its poker hand ranking. A payout is made to the player based onthe amount of the original bet and the poker hand ranking of his hand,as specified in a payout table.

In Bounty Poker, however, unlike conventional draw poker, the discardedcards are placed back into the deck prior to the draw, thus making thediscarded cards available for the draw. Therefore, it is possible thatone or more of the discarded cards may be drawn, despite having beendiscarded. The placement of the discarded cards back into the deck priorto the draw changes the probabilities of drawing any particular card,generally to the disadvantage of the player. Therefore, in Bounty Poker,the player is given a special “bounty” reward whenever he draws a cardthat had originally been discarded. This is especially attractive toplayers involved in playing video draw poker against the house.

Referring to FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment, Bounty Poker is playedas a video poker game on a computer network 20. A server computer 30includes software that acts as “the house” by dealing cards and keepingtrack of discarded cards, bets, and winnings. The player plays by usingan electronic client device 40 that is networked to or otherwiseelectrically connected to the server computer. The electronic clientdevice 40 displays the hand being played on its monitor, and alsoenables the player to interact with the server computer 30 by using akeyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick that are operatively coupled to theelectronic client device 40.

Any type of controller or processor may be used to control the servercomputer 30 and the electronic client device 40. For example, one ormore general-purpose computers, Application Specific Integrated Circuits(ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), gate arrays, analog circuits,dedicated digital and/or analog processors, hard-wired circuits, etc.may be used by the server computer 30 and the electronic device 40 toreceive inputs from and provide outputs to each other. Instructions forcontrolling the one or more of such controllers or processors may bestored in any desirable computer-readable medium and/or data structure,such as floppy diskettes, hard drives, CD-ROMs, RAMs, EEPROMs, magneticmedia, optical media, magneto-optical media, etc. Additionally, theelectronic client device 40 may be a “dumb” terminal that includes adisplay monitor and a keyboard, mouse, and/or joystick to allow a playerto interact with the server computer 30 via the client device 40. Thenetwork 20 may be any type of electronic network that enables electroniccommunication between the server 30 and the client 40, including a LocalArea Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), or any other computernetwork, such as the Internet.

Referring to FIG. 2, in a preferred embodiment, the player may play upto ten hands simultaneously using the computer display 100. When playingten hands simultaneously, the player first places a bet that will bemultiplied by ten by clicking on the button 105, labeled “BET MAX”. Aninitial five-card hand 110 is then dealt to the player. In the exampleshown in FIG. 2, the player is initially dealt the Seven of Hearts, theAce of Diamonds, the King of Spades, the Jack of Spades, and the Sevenof Diamonds. A typical player would choose to hold the pair of Sevensand to discard the Ace, King, and Jack. The held cards are indicated bythe word “HOLD” on each of the Sevens, and the discarded cards areindicated in the lower left portion 115 of the screen display just abovethe words “Discarded cards to qualify bonus: 10”. In the other ninehands 120, the two held cards are displayed in each hand, and the otherthree cards are shown as not having been drawn. At item 130, the number“10” that appears along with the words “Discarded cards to qualifybonus” is a counter that shows the player the number of appearances thatmust be made by previously discarded cards in order for the player toqualify for a “Bounty” bonus.

In a payout table 125, eleven types of winning poker hands are listed,along with the respective payout factors: A Royal Flush; Four Aces; Four2's, 3's, 4's; a Straight Flush; Four of a Kind; a Full House; a Flush;a Straight; Three of a Kind; Two Pairs; and Jacks or Better. Jacks orBetter refers to a pair of Jacks, a pair of Queens, a pair of Kings, ora pair of Aces. Thus, if a player obtains a Royal Flush, the player willwin 4200 times his original wager.

Referring to FIG. 3, each of the ten hands 110, 120 has now drawn threeadditional cards. In each case, there were 50 possible cards that couldhave been drawn—all except the two cards that were held. As it happens,in four instances, one of the three discarded cards was drawn. Thus, atitem 130, the number of “discarded cards to qualify [for a] bonus” hasnow been decreased from ten to six, because there were four appearancesof previously discarded cards, and so the “10” was decremented fourtimes. Thus, assuming that the player continues to play Bounty Poker,each time that the player draws a card that had been previouslydiscarded for that set of hands, the number of “discarded cards toqualify for a bonus”, presently six, will be decremented again, until itreaches zero, at which point the player qualifies for bonus points and acorresponding payout. In addition, in one hand, i.e., the hand at thelower left position within the nine hands above the original hand, theplayer has drawn a pair of Sixes to combine with the pair of Sevens thatwas already holding. Thus, for that hand, the player has achieved “TwoPairs”, which, as indicated in the payout table on the left side of theillustration, is worth a payout of 10 times the original bet. However,in each of the other hands, the player has not achieved any of the cardcombinations that allows for a payout.

In conventional five-card draw poker, such as is described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,531,448; 5,732,950; 5,823,873; and 6,007,066, when drawing thethree replacement cards, a player would know that there are only 47cards from which those three cards can be drawn. Thus, when holding apair of Sevens, the player knows that there are two additional Sevensremaining in the deck of 47 cards, and the player is hoping that atleast one of those Sevens might be drawn among the three new replacementcards to provide a “three of a kind”, or that both Sevens might be drawnto provide a “four of a kind”. However, in the Bounty Poker gameaccording to the present invention, because the discarded cards areplaced back into the deck, the player's chances of drawing an additionalSeven or a pair of Sevens are decreased, because the deck from which thethree replacement cards will be drawn has 50 cards instead of 47. FIG. 3shows that this decreased probability may be manifested by thereappearance of a discarded card among the three replacement cards, ashappens four times out of the ten hands in this example. From a bettingstandpoint, this decrease in probability is quite significant. However,the bettor is compensated for this with the “Bounty” bonus points thatare awarded when the discarded cards reappear.

In an alternative embodiment, the Bounty Poker game according to thepresent invention may be played competitively by several players againsteach other. In this version of Bounty Poker, each player is initiallydealt five cards, and then chooses which cards to hold and which todiscard. Typically, in the competitive version of the game, a player maybe permitted to discard up to three cards from the initial deal, or upto four provided that the player is holding an ace, which must bedisplayed to the other players. In contrast to standard five-card drawpoker, the discarded cards are then returned to the deck and madeavailable for the draw. Prior to the draw, there may be a round ofbetting, during which players are given the opportunity to bet on theirhands, or to “fold”, i.e., drop out of the hand. Each player then drawsthe same number of replacement cards as had been discarded by thatplayer, thus causing each player to have exactly five cards. However,there is a possibility that one or more players will have drawn at leastone of the cards that was originally discarded, either by another playeror by the same player. After the draw, the players typically bet ontheir hands again. After the betting is completed, the hands of theplayers that stayed in the hand (i.e., those who did not fold) arecompared, and the one having the highest poker hand ranking wins thepot.

In the competitive version of the game, there is no additional “bounty”reward when a player draws one of the cards that he originallydiscarded, because the nature of the competitive game does not lenditself to such a reward. However, the fact that the discarded cards areavailable for the draw is likely to affect the betting strategies of theplayers, because it changes the probabilities of drawing a given card orcards, and it also changes the probability that a competitor will draw agiven card or cards. In addition, the reuse of the discarded cardsenables up to nine players on a single hand, rather than a maximum ofsix when discarded cards are not available for the draw.

While the present invention has been described with respect to what ispresently considered to be the preferred embodiment, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments. To the contrary, the invention is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims. The scope of the following claims is to beaccorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent structures and functions.

1. A method for playing a poker game, comprising the steps of: placing abet on at least a first hand; receiving a deal of five cards, the fivecards being contained in a standard 52-card deck; choosing which cardsto hold and which cards to discard; drawing replacement cards from thedeck, wherein the number of replacement cards is equal to the number ofdiscarded cards; and receiving a payout, wherein an amount of the payoutis based on an amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of acombination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn asreplacement cards, wherein the discarded cards are placed back into thedeck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the amount of the payout is also based on whether anyof the discarded cards is drawn as a replacement card.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 or claim 2, wherein the at least first hand is displayed on amonitor of a computer, and wherein the poker game is played by using amouse and a keyboard that are operatively coupled to the computer, andwherein the computer is configured to be in communication with a serverthat acts as a dealer for the poker game.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the computer and the server are in communication via a computernetwork.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the computer networkcomprises the Internet.
 6. A method for playing a poker game, comprisingthe steps of: placing a bet on at least a first hand, a second hand, anda third hand; receiving a deal of five cards for each of the at leastthree hands, the five cards being contained in a standard 52-card deckcorresponding to the respective hand, wherein the same five cards aredealt to each of the at least three hands; choosing which cards to holdand which cards to discard, wherein the same cards are held in each ofthe at least three hands and the same cards are discarded in each of theat least three hands; drawing replacement cards for each of the at leastthree hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand, whereinthe number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discardedcards; and receiving a payout for each of the at least three hands,wherein an amount of each payout is based on an amount of the bet and apoker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and thecards that were drawn as replacement cards, wherein the discarded cardsfrom each of the at least three hands are placed back into eachrespective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising the step of determining anadditional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is basedon a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn asreplacement cards.
 8. The method of claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the atleast three hands are displayed on a monitor of a computer, and whereinthe poker game is played by using a mouse and a keyboard that areoperatively coupled to the computer, and wherein the computer isconfigured to be in communication with a server that acts as a dealerfor the poker game.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the computer andthe server are in communication via a computer network.
 10. The methodof claim 9, wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.
 11. Amethod for playing a poker game, comprising the steps of: placing a beton at least ten separate hands; receiving a deal of five cards for eachof the at least ten hands, the five cards being contained in a standard52-card deck corresponding to the respective hand, wherein the same fivecards are dealt to each of the at least ten hands; choosing which cardsto hold and which cards to discard, wherein the same cards are held ineach of the at least ten hands and the same cards are discarded in eachof the at least ten hands; drawing replacement cards for each of the atleast ten hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand,wherein the number of replacement cards is equal to the number ofdiscarded cards; and receiving a payout for each of the at least tenhands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on an amount of the betand a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were heldand the cards that were drawn as replacement cards, wherein thediscarded cards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back intoeach respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards. 12.The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of determining anadditional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is basedon a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn asreplacement cards.
 13. The method of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein theat least ten hands are displayed on a monitor of a computer, and whereinthe poker game is played by using a mouse and a keyboard that areoperatively coupled to the computer, and wherein the computer isconfigured to be in communication with a server that acts as a dealerfor the poker game.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the computer andthe server are in communication via a computer network.
 15. The methodof claim 14, wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.
 16. Amethod of conducting a poker game over a computer network, the networkincluding a server computer and at least one client computer that is incommunication with the server computer, and the method comprisingconfiguring the server computer to execute the steps of: causing the atleast one client computer to display at least ten undealt hands offive-card draw poker; prompting a user to indicate an amount of a betusing the at least one client computer; dealing five cards from astandard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at least ten hands; dealingthe same five cards from respective standard 52-card decks to each ofthe other at least nine hands; causing the at least one client computerto display the five dealt cards in each of the at least ten hands;prompting the user to indicate which of the five dealt cards will beheld and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded, wherein theheld cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, and wherein thediscarded cards are discarded in each of the at least ten hands; drawingreplacement cards for each of the at least ten hands from the respectivedecks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand are independent ofthe replacement cards for the other hands; determining a payout for eachof the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based onthe amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of thecards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards;and causing the at least one client computer to display the respectivepayouts; wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least ten handsare placed back into each respective deck prior to the step of drawingreplacement cards.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising thestep of determining an additional payout, wherein an amount of theadditional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cardsthat are drawn as replacement cards.
 18. The method of claim 16 or claim17, wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.
 19. A systemfor conducting a poker game, comprising: a server computer; and at leastone client computer, the at least one client computer being incommunication with the server computer, wherein the server computer isconfigured to: cause the at least one client computer to display atleast ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker; prompt a user toindicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer; dealfive cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at leastten hands; deal the same five cards from respective standard 52-carddecks to each of the other at least nine hands; cause the at least oneclient computer to display the five dealt cards in each of the at leastten hands; prompt the user to indicate which of the five dealt cardswill be held and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded,wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, andwherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the at least tenhands; draw replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands fromthe respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand areindependent of the replacement cards for the other hands; determine apayout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of eachpayout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of acombination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn asreplacement cards; and cause the at least one client computer to displaythe respective payouts, wherein the discarded cards from each of the atleast ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to thedraw of replacement cards.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein theserver computer is further configured to determine an additional payout,wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulativenumber of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards. 21.The system of claim 19 or claim 20, wherein the server computer is incommunication with the at least one client computer via a computernetwork.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the computer networkcomprises the Internet.
 23. A storage medium for storing software forconducting a poker game over a computer network, the network including aserver computer and at least one client computer that is incommunication with the server computer, the software beingcomputer-readable, and the software including instructions for causingthe server computer to: cause the at least one client computer todisplay at least ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker; prompt auser to indicate an amount of a bet using the at least one clientcomputer; deal five cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first handof the at least ten hands: deal the same five cards from respectivestandard 52-card decks to each of the other at least nine hands; causethe at least one client computer to display the five dealt cards in eachof the at least ten hands; prompt the user to indicate which of the fivedealt cards will be held and which of the five dealt cards will bediscarded, wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least tenhands, and wherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the atleast ten hands; draw replacement cards for each of the at least tenhands from the respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for agiven hand are independent of the replacement cards for the other hands;determine a payout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amountof each payout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker handranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards thatwere drawn as replacement cards; and cause the at least one clientcomputer to display the respective payouts; wherein the discarded cardsfrom each of the at least ten hands are placed back into each respectivedeck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.
 24. The storagemedium of claim 23, wherein the software further includes instructionsfor causing the computer to determine an additional payout, wherein anamount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of thediscarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.
 25. The storagemedium of claim 23 or claim 24, wherein the computer network comprisesthe Internet.
 26. A method of conducting a draw poker game over acomputer network comprising a host server and an electronic clientdevice, the method comprising the steps of: causing the client device todisplay at least one draw poker hand comprising a plurality of cardsymbols; causing the client device to prompt a player to indicate adiscarding of a plurality of the displayed cards symbols; and causingthe client device to display a plurality of drawn card symbolscorresponding to the plurality of discarded card symbols, at least oneof the drawn card symbols being identical to one of the discarded cardsymbols.
 27. The method of claim 26, the method further comprising thesteps of: causing the client device to prompt the player to indicate anamount of a bet to be placed on the draw poker hand; and causing theclient device to display an amount of a payout, the amount of the payoutbeing based on a poker hand ranking of the draw poker hand beingdisplayed after the drawn card symbols have been displayed.
 28. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the amount of the payout is further based ona number of drawn card symbols that are identical to any of thediscarded card symbols.
 29. The method of claim 26, wherein theelectronic client device comprises a client computer.
 30. The method ofclaim 26, wherein the electronic client device comprises a clientmonitor, wherein the monitor is configured to receive inputs from akeyboard.
 31. The method of claim 26, wherein the electronic clientdevice comprises a client monitor, wherein the monitor is configured toreceive inputs from a mouse.
 32. The method of claim 26, wherein theelectronic client device comprises a client monitor, wherein the monitoris configured to receive inputs from a joystick device.